Zoning and Land Use Application (ZoLa) User Guide Table of Contents About ZoLa .................................................................................................................................................... 2

Getting Started .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Using the Toolbar to Explore the Map ...................................................................................................... 3

Advanced Tools ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Map Type .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Zooming .................................................................................................................................................... 6

Panning ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

Getting Information .................................................................................................................................. 8

Measuring Distances ................................................................................................................................. 9

Print ......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Creating a Link to the Current Map ........................................................................................................ 11

Email a Link ............................................................................................................................................. 11

Using the Console ....................................................................................................................................... 12

Searching for a Location .......................................................................................................................... 12

Searching by Address .......................................................................................................................... 13

Searching by Borough, Block and Lot .................................................................................................. 14

Searching by Intersection ................................................................................................................... 14

Searching by Places of Interest ........................................................................................................... 15

Searched Locations Panel: Zooming and Related Information ............................................................... 15

Zoning Information ............................................................................................................................. 16

Additional Zoning Information ............................................................................................................ 18

Building & Property Information ........................................................................................................ 19

Show Additional Data on Map ................................................................................................................ 20

About the Data .................................................................................................................................... 20

Zoning ................................................................................................................................................. 22

Other Zoning Designations ................................................................................................................. 26

Environmental Requirements ............................................................................................................. 30

Waterfront .......................................................................................................................................... 31

Land Use .............................................................................................................................................. 33

Uses on City Owned & Leased Properties ........................................................................................... 34

Metadata ............................................................................................................................................. 40

Providing Feedback ..................................................................................................................................... 41

Help ............................................................................................................................................................. 41

Question? .................................................................................................................................................... 42

Copyright Information ................................................................................................................................ 42

About ZoLa

ZoLa (the Zoning and Land Use Application) is the Department of City Planning's (DCP) web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) application that provides the public with up-to-date zoning and related information for New York City. ZoLa is a collaboration between the departments of City Planning and Information Technology and Telecommunications.

ZoLa can be accessed from the Department of City Planning’s website: http://www.nyc.gov/planning.

Getting Started

ZoLa enables you to explore the New York City map and view zoning-related information on citywide, borough, neighborhood and site-specific levels. The web application page has three main parts:

Along the top, the menu with links to Help (including this User Guide), a feedback form and a general disclaimer.

The Map including the Toolbar to interact with the map. The Console, on the right side of the page, which contains three major panels:

Search by Location: Search by address, block and lot, intersection or place of interest.

Searched Locations: Provides zoning and related information for the searched locations.

Show Zoning & Related Data on Map: Where users can customize the information displayed on the map.

Within the Console, you can expand and collapse panels as needed. By default "Show Zoning & Related Data on Map" is expanded. Click on any panel name to expand that panel. The content of the panel is hidden when collapsed, but not deleted.

You can resize the area used by the Console and the Map by clicking and dragging the divider between the two areas.

Using the Toolbar to Explore the Map

This section explains the different ways you can interact with the map. When you first access ZoLa, you will see a small scale map of the entire City and surrounding area. From here you can either search for a location in the Console or use the tools in the upper portion of the map.

The default tool is set to pan/identify/zoom.

The new ZoLa application reflects changes to the interface:

Basic Toolset

The basic toolset is still located at the upper-left corner of the map and includes the following tools.

Name Icon Description

Full extent

Immediately zooms map out to the full view of New York City and surrounding areas. The active tool does not change.

Zoom Bar

Click or drag the bar to zoom to a new zoom level. The active tool does not change.

Print

Click on the icon to print the current map. The active tool does not change.

Create Link

Create a hyperlink to the current map. The active tool does not change.

Advanced Tools

The Advanced provides additional tools: Zoom, Measure, Email and Save tools. By clicking on the Advanced, a drop down will list all the tools.

Name Icon Description

Zoom In

Click and hold the left mouse button down on the map at one corner of the rectangle to zoom in to. Drag the mouse to the other corner of the rectangle, and release the mouse button. The map will zoom in to the area of the rectangle. Zoom In becomes the active tool when selected.

Measure Distance

Measure distances along a linear path. Measure Distance becomes the active tool when selected.

Email Map

Send a hyperlink to the current map via email. The active tool does not change.

Note that after one use of an advanced tool, the active tool reverts to Pan/Identify/zoom.

Map Type

The new Map Type tool allows you to toggle between the different map themes. ZoLa has three pre-defined map themes, the Street Map view, Tax Map view and the Aerial Photo view. You can display various map layers of ZoLa on top of each of the map themes. By clicking the Map Type, a drop down will list the different base maps in the application.

Street Map – By default this map view is visible and will display the street view along with the building outlines, parks and names.

In order to get the Tax Lot (PLUTO) and Zoning Information identify result, you have to be in the street map view.

Tax Map – This map theme will display the Department of Finance’s (DOF) live Digital Tax Map (DTM) view as seen on the DOFs DTM application. In this theme you can view the block/lot lines, labels and dimensions based on the zoom level.

In this view, the identify result will only give information about the tax lot from the Digital Tax Map application.

Aerial Photo – This theme will display the latest aerial photo and will also replace the “View Aerial Photo / Remove Aerial Photo” tool. The aerial photography presented in ZoLa is from 2012.

Zooming

There are four different tools for changing the map scale.

Zoom In The zoom “Magnifying Glass” icon is now relocated to the Advanced tools. Click the Advanced tools to get access to the tool.

On clicking the zoom icon, the cursor will change to a small magnifying glass. You can then click anywhere on the map to zoom in one level of magnification and re-center the map on the spot you clicked. You can also click and drag the magnifying glass, thereby selecting an area of the map that you wish to zoom in to.

Zoom Bar You can jump directly to a certain level of magnification by using the "Zoom” bar in the left portion of the tool bar. The white bar indicates the current level. Click on any other area of the bar to zoom to that level. The very right will zoom in all the way; the very left will zoom out all the way. If you move your mouse over the bar, you will also see some descriptions of the approximate zoom level you would get by clicking there, including "City View,” "Borough View,” "Neighborhood View,” "Block View,” and "Building View.”

You can zoom in and out one level at a time, without re-centering the map, by clicking on the "Plus” (zoom in) and "Minus” (zoom out) buttons directly to the right and left of the "Zoom” bar.

Mouse Wheel Scrolling your mouse wheel, if you have one, will also zoom in and out.

Full Extent At any time, you can see the full City coverage map by clicking the "Zoom Out to Full City View” icon at the left corner of the tool bar.

Panning

The “Pan” hand icon tool was removed and integrated to the default pan/identify/zoom tool. You can click the left mouse and hold to pan the map.

Getting Information

The identify “i” tool was removed; however the functionality is integrated in the default pan/identify/zoom tool. A single left mouse click on any visible feature on the map will get information on the particular feature(s) on the map.

The information shown will depend on what features are visible on the map. For information about displaying different data features on the map, see Show Additional Zoning & Related Data on Map. If no additional data is shown and you click on a building or lot on the map, a pop-up with relevant zoning information for the location is displayed.

All zoning information such as zoning district, commercial overlay, special purpose district, limited height district, and zoning map and historic zoning maps are associated with hyperlinks. By clicking the hyperlink you will be redirected to the Department of City Planning’s website for general information.

You can either close the pop-up by clicking the small "Close" box in the upper right of the popup or minimize the pop-up by clicking the "Minimize" button. You can expand it again at any time.

When there are more than two feature layers visible, using the identify tool will identify both layers. Clicking on any of the layers will display more information.

You can navigate back to your identify result list by clicking on the "Back to List" button on the top right hand corner.

Measuring Distances

You can measure linear distances on the map by clicking on the “Measure Distance” icon from the Advanced tools.

As you hover over the measure tool, the measurement unit’s will be displayed with different options and one of the units has to be selected in order to measure. By default the measurement unit is set to “feet”, you change this setting by selecting any one of the option. After selecting this tool, the cursor changes to an arrow with a measurement line.

Click anywhere on the map to start a line for measuring. Move the cursor and click again to get the distance from the starting point. Clicking again will create new measurements along the path. Double click to stop measuring.

Print

To print your current display map, click on the "Printer" icon on the right side of the toolbar. Enter the title of the map to get a version of the page that can be easily printed.

Alternative to printing directly from ZoLa Depending on your intended use, it may be preferable to use the screen capture or Snipping Tool features of Windows or to take a screenshot on your Mac.

More information on Windows screen capture More information on Windows Snipping Tool More information on Mac screenshot

Creating a Link to the Current Map

You can create a link to the current map by clicking on the icon that looks like a chain (link).

Clicking the tool will open a dialog box containing a URL which can be copied and pasted to another document, such as an email message. The URL will then be a link back to the map as it currently appears in the browser.

Email a Link

You can email a link to the current map by clicking on the email icon from the Advanced tools.

Clicking the tool will open a new browser window that must be completed by the user to send an email message.

Using the Console The console can be used to search for a location, to view zoning information for a location and to change

the features displayed on the map.

Searching for a Location

You can search for a specific location by using the "Search for a Location" panel in the console to the right of the map. Click "Search for a Location" to open the panel. You can search by address, borough block lot, intersection, or place of interest.

If you wish to do additional searches without erasing the results of previous ones, you can click the ">>" icon below the search fields to reveal the "Append Search to Map" checkbox. Check this box before doing a search and the results of that search will be shown on the map in addition to previous searches.

Searching by Address

Select "Address" in the "SEARCH TYPE" drop-down menu. Enter the building number in the "ADDRESS NUMBER." field, the street name in the "STREET NAME" field, and select the borough from the "BOROUGH" drop-down menu. Then click the "Find" button in the lower-left of the module, or press the "Enter" key. The map will automatically center and zoom in on that address. The address will either be marked with a star or by highlighting the building footprint associated with that address.

Searching by Borough, Block and Lot

Select "Borough / Block / Lot" in the "SEARCH TYPE" drop-down menu. Select the borough from the "BOROUGH" drop-down menu. Enter a block number and tax lot number in the "BLOCK" and "LOT" fields. Then click the "Find" button in the lower-left of the module, or press the "Enter" key. The map will automatically center and zoom in on that lot. The lot outline or building footprint associated with the borough, block and lot will be highlighted.

Searching by Intersection

Select "Intersection" in the "SEARCH TYPE" drop-down menu. Enter the cross streets in the "CROSS STREET ONE" and "CROSS STREET TWO" fields, and select the borough from the "BOROUGH" drop-down menu. Then click the "Find" button in the lower-left of the module, or press the "Enter" key. The map will automatically center and zoom in on that intersection. The selected area will also be marked with a star icon.

Searching by Places of Interest

Select "Place of Interest" in the "SEARCH TYPE" drop-down menu. Enter the name of the place in the "PLACE NAME" field and select the borough from the "BOROUGH" drop-down menu. Then click the "Find" button in the lower-left of the module, or press the "Enter" key. The map will automatically center and zoom in on that place. The selected area will also be marked with a star icon. This feature allows you to search a wide variety of City landmarks and notable destinations.

Searched Locations Panel: Zooming and Related Information

However you search, the map will automatically center and zoom in on that location. The selected area will also be marked with a star icon or highlighted/outlined. The location will show up to the right of the map within the Searched Locations panel.

The Searched Locations panel displays information about the user-entered property in three sections: "Zoning Information," "Additional Zoning Information," and "Building & Property Information".

After you enter a search into ZoLa, the Searched Locations panel expands automatically to display "Zoning Information" for your current searched location. To open any of the sections, click on its corresponding section title. If the other section options are not displayed in the window, you may need to scroll using your mouse or keypad to bring them into the view.

Zoning Information

The "Zoning" section opens automatically when any search is performed. It displays zoning information related to the lot associated with the searched location. The information in this section comes from the Department of City Planning’s Zoning Database.

For most locations, this section displays the borough, block and lot number, the zoning district associated with that lot, the zoning map and historic zoning maps on which the lot can be found. By clicking on the value of the zoning district (e.g., C6-4 in the example above) you can view general information about the zoning district in the Zoning Reference section of the Department of City Planning’s website.

From the zoning information panel you can also access the historic zoning maps. These maps are in PDF documents containing all adopted zoning section maps since 1961 that were either printed in the Zoning Resolution or posted on DCP's website.

If the searched lot falls within a commercial overlay, special purpose district and/or limited height district, that information will be shown in the Zoning section. Clicking the values in any of these fields will direct you to related general information in the Zoning Reference.

For some lots, the Zoning section will show multiple values in one or more of the fields. Multiple values indicate that the boundary between adjoining districts runs through the lot. Such lots are called split lots. The Zoning section has links to the Zoning Reference for all listed districts.

Note that if the searched location is an intersection, no information is provided in the Zoning section. A searched location has to be associated with a particular lot in order to show data in the Zoning section.

Additional Zoning Information

The "Additional Zoning Information" section displays information about other zoning related features that may affect the searched location. These features include:

FRESH Program Areas; Inclusionary Housing Designated Areas; Lower Density Growth Management Areas; Waterfront Access Plans; and if the lot may be subject to waterfront regulations.

For more details about the program, click on the hyperlink to navigate to the website.

Most lots in the city are not subject to these additional regulations. The Additional Zoning Information section will show the message "No additional zoning information found for this location."

Building & Property Information

The "Building and Property Information" section displays building and property information related to the searched location. This information is updated twice a year in the Department of City Planning’s PLUTO and MapPLUTO data. The data comes from several city agencies.

Show Additional Data on Map In addition to information on specific addresses and points of interest, ZoLa can display the boundaries

of various zoning and related areas in the City on the map. The Show Zoning & Related Data on Map

module at the bottom of the Console allows you to choose which types of features (or layers) to display.

About the Data

All information on the application is updated at the end of every month. There may be a lag between when an action occurs and when the information is entered into the system. The Department and the City make no representation as to the accuracy of the information, its timeliness, or its suitability for any purpose. The Department and the City disclaims any liability for errors that may be contained herein.

ZoLa groups available map layers into following categories:

Zoning Other Zoning Designations Environmental Requirements Waterfront Land Use Uses on City Owned & Leased Properties Other Program Areas Landmark Administrative

By default all these categories are collapsed. Click the plus symbol in the "Show Zoning & Related Data on Map" to expand the category. Click the minus symbol to collapse an opened category.

By checking off the box next to one or more districts, they will appear on the map.

NOTE: Certain data layers require a minimum level of magnification to display properly. If the map is zoomed out to too small a scale, they will display as gray checkboxes on the menu and you will not be able to select them. Zoom in until the boxes turn white.

Zoning

The zoning category consists of all layers related to zoning districts, these include:

Zoning group layer o Commercial Overlay o Zoning Districts o Zoning Districts Thematic

Special Purpose District Special Purpose Subdistrict Limited Height District Zoning Map Amendment

Zoning group layer This layer groups 3 different map layers together as described above. Which of these three layers are shown depends on the map scale. At small scales (the Borough view on the scale bar) The "Zoning District Thematic" layer is displayed. This is a generalized display that is color-coded to show basic zoning designations:

Residence District (lower density) Residence District (medium and higher density) Commercial District Mixed Use District Manufacturing District Battery Park City Park

As the user zooms in to the neighborhood view, the Zoning District Thematic layer is turned off and the "Zoning District" layer becomes visible. The "Commercial Overlay" layer becomes visible at the Block view. The labels for the Zoning District and Commercial Overlay layers also are scale dependent.

Borough View (Zoning District Thematic)

Neighborhood View (Zoning District)

Block View (Zoning District and Commercial

Overlay)

Special Purpose District and Special Purpose Subdistrict The special purpose districts are areas that are designated with specific zoning requirements and/or zoning incentives for development. Some special districts have areas that are designated as subdistricts which may have additional restrictions.

Special Purpose District Special Purpose subdistrict

Limited Height District The layer displays polygon features representing limited height districts. Using the identify button you can click on a location that has limited height district to get additional information and the "Limited Height District information" hyperlink. By clicking the hyperlink you will be redirected to the Department of City Planning’s website for more information.

Zoning Map Amendment It displays outlines of both adopted and proposed zoning map changes since 2002. These zoning changes include DCP initiatives as well as private zoning applications. Adopted initiatives are shown in green and certified/in public review initiatives are in brown.

You can use the identify "i" tool on the Toolbar to get more information about the zoning map amendment. The information displayed will depend on if it's a private rezoning or DCP initiative.

DCP Initiated Zoning Change

Private Zoning Change

For DCP initiated zoning changes, there is the addition of a "Department of City Planning Initiative" hyperlink that will redirect users to the proposal on DCP’s website.

Other Zoning Designations

It includes map layers that have special designation in the Zoning Resolution. These special rules and requirements provide incentives for development when used with the existing zoning.

This category includes following layers:

Inclusionary Housing Designated Area Lower Density Growth Management Area FRESH Food store Area Sidewalk Café Zoning Regulations

Using the identity button on these layers will redirect users to the Department of City Planning’s website for more information.

Inclusionary Housing Designated Area This includes areas where the Inclusionary Housing Program is applicable. The program offers a floor area ratio (FAR) bonus for developments that provide permanently affordable housing.

Inclusionary Housing Designated Area

Lower Density Growth Management Area A Lower Density Growth Management Area is an area designated in the Zoning Resolution where new developments must provide more off-street parking, larger yards and more open space than would otherwise be required in the applicable zoning districts in Staten Island and Bronx Community District 10.

Lower Density Growth Management Area

FRESH Program Polygon representing boundaries of Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) Stores areas. This layer shows areas where discretionary tax incentives and zoning incentives are available.

FRESH Food store Area

Sidewalk Café Zoning Regulations The Line feature class is intended to be a spatial representation of the Sidewalk Cafe regulations in the New York City Zoning Resolution, Article 1, Chapter 4. Lines are attributed to indicate the types of Sidewalk Cafes that are permitted: All Cafes (includes Enclosed, Unenclosed, and Small); Small Only; Small and Unenclosed Only. Lines are coincident with the Department Of Finance Tax Block edges. This dataset is maintained to reflect changes to mapped zoning districts or zoning text amendments as they are adopted by the City Council

Environmental Requirements

This category includes any environmental-related requirements for a property. It includes the environmental designation layer.

Environmental Designation This is a point feature representing approximate location of property that may be affected by noise or air quality, or hazardous material contamination.

Using identify tool on any one of the point features will provide general information about the affected property. For additional information you can click on any one of the hyperlinks.

Environmental Designation

Waterfront

This category includes two layers:

Waterfront Access Plan Coastal Boundary

Waterfront Access Plan (WAP) A waterfront access plan is a specific plan set forth in the Zoning Resolution that tailors waterfront bulk regulations and public access requirements to the specific conditions of a particular waterfront area.

Waterfront Access Plan

Coastal Boundary The coastal zone boundary defines the geographic scope of New York City's Waterfront Revitalization Program (WRP). Pursuant to federal statute, the boundary encompasses all land and water of direct and significant impact on coastal waters. Federal lands and facilities are excluded from the coastal zone and consistency review in accordance with federal legislation. However, should the federal government dispose of any coastal property; it would be included in the coastal zone.

Coastal Boundary

Land Use

The land use category displays the primary land use layer. It is a color-coded thematic map of all the major land use usage within the city.

Uses on City Owned & Leased Properties

This is a comprehensive inventory of uses on city-owned and leased properties (COLP) in the Listing of City Owned and Leased Properties. This inventory includes public facilities (such as schools, police stations, libraries, and health centers), agency facilities (such as offices, warehouses, pollution control plants, and highway maintenance yards), properties leased out by the city (such as parking lots, storefronts, and piers), residential properties (such as apartment buildings, row houses, and Housing Authority buildings) and properties with no current use (such as vacant land, abandoned buildings, and land under water).

The COLP data are produced every two years to accompany the Citywide Statement of Needs as required under Section 204 of the City Charter. COLP has been produced from data in the Integrated Property Information System (IPIS), a real estate database maintained by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS).

The current data presented in ZoLa are from October 2014.

Since multiple uses occur on some tax lots, a tax lot may appear in more than one use. This category includes the following layers

Culture & Recreation Education Health and Social Service Leased to Private Tenant Maintenance, Storage & Infrastructure Office

Public Safety and Criminal Justice Property with No Use Property with Residential Use City Owned and Leased Properties Thematic

Culture & Recreation A point layer where current use types include museums, libraries, zoos, parks, playgrounds, open space and other cultural and recreational facilities.

Education A point layer where current use types include elementary, intermediate and high schools, special education and early childhood schools, colleges and universities and other education facilities.

Health and Social Service A point layer where current use types include hospitals, day care, community and senior centers and other social service and health facilities.

Leased to Private Tenant A point layer where current use types include uses on city owned properties that are leased to private tenants under long- or short-term agreements.

Maintenance, Storage & Infrastructure A point layer where current use types include transportation, public parking, indoor and outdoor maintenance and storage, material processing, sanitation stations and other uses.

Office A point layer where current use types include agency executive offices, field offices, training facilities and miscellaneous office uses.

Public Safety and Criminal Justice A point layer where current use types include public police stations, fire houses, ambulance stations, court houses, correctional facilities and other public safety and criminal justice uses.

Property with No Use A point layer where current use types include the following:

No Use No Use – Non Residential Structures No Use – Vacant Land Water Condition – Not Usable Residential use with No Occupancy

Property with Residential Use A point layer where properties have residential use.

City Owned and Leased Properties Thematic A polygon layer that displays a thematic view of city-owned and leased properties.

Metadata

For any layer under “Show Zoning & Related Data on Map”, abridged metadata can be viewed. Right click on the layer name and select “Display Metadata for …” This will vary depending on the layer. You can also navigate to the full version of metadata by clicking on the hyperlink in the metadata.

Providing Feedback

You can click the "Feedback Form" link above the map tools to send feedback regarding the map to DCP.

The feedback form opens in a new window and allows you to submit comments related to the application.

Help

At any time you can access the "Help" section, which consists of the FAQ and User Guide, by clicking "Help" link.

It consists of FAQs and User Guide that can be accessed anytime.

Question?

For general information about properties and zoning districts, contact the Zoning Help Desk.

For technical assistance with ZoLa, email ZoLa Technical Support at zolagis@planning.nyc.gov

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